Life with the Gifaldis
by NerdilyNi
Summary: Set in SuprSingr's Life with the Shortmans universe; follow the antics of the Gifaldi family! Beware the insanity inside. (OC heavy) Chapter 2: There is a ghost among us.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Sup Fanfiction land? It's been a while. Why do I keep updating only once a year? Because I suck. And am a little busy... or a lot of busy. But I digress.**

 **In any case, HEY! What's up! It's NerdilyNi, here with cracktastic fanfiction because I can. This is actually based in SuprSingr's Life with the Shortmans universe, so that's what's going on here. If you haven't read that or my fic, Lucky Shot, you will understand approximately none of this.**

 **To clear up some potential confusion: The kids here are the kids of Sid from Hey Arnold! and my OC Lucky. I was not the one who decided that they got married eventually, that was SuprSingr (although I don't disagree). Sydelle Clover and Silver were originally created by her. All 3 are now our love children and we try our best with them but... well, SOMETHING went wrong apparently. You'll see.**

 **At this point in time Lucky is a hacker for the government and keeps getting in trouble because of it. Eventually the government gets her out of it, though, so she's never too worried about it. Sid owns the best garage in Hillwood and is a caring and loving father and husband and sadly not in this chapter.**

 **Also, Silver's real name is Archibald, but started going by silver after someone (coughcoughSUPRSINGR'S PHILcoughcough) called him Silver to his face and he just rolled with it. Eris, however, doesn't care because she can't see his eyes, so she still calls him Archie.**

 **I think that's all you need in order to understand this story for the most part, but then again I might know my characters too well and forget to add something you guys need to know, so please tell me if that happens. I've been working with these guys a lot over the past year or so.**

 **Now, on with the show!**

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 **Disclaimer: I do not own Hey Arnold!, and I have a weird timeshare thing going on with the Gifaldi children.  
**

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"So then you take away 3- Are you even paying attention?"

Archibald "Silver" Gifaldi, the eldest of the Gifaldi children, sat at the dining room table pouring over second-grade math homework. He ran a hand through his dark hair and sighed. As an 11-year-old, it had been a long time since he had been in the second-grade and had hoped to never lay his sharp silver eyes on such homework again. What made it even worse was that the owner of said homework always had her focus elsewhere.

Seven-year-old Sydelle Clover had been said to be many things, but a scholar was not one of them. Her red hair reflected her fiery spirit just as the green cap worn backwards atop her head mirrored her tomboyish nature. She felt that her time was better spent helping her dad rebuild engines or hatching a fun scheme with her siblings (and Aunt Trix when she came around) rather than doing difficult, boring schoolwork. She had decided long ago to just become the pit crew leader for some race cars when she grew up, so why did she have to learn about silly things like grammar rules and how many apples Sally has?

In any case, she was too enraptured with watching her sister practicing her viola in the living room. Despite being only in the fourth grade, Eris Gifaldi was well-versed in several musical instruments including piano, cello, flute, viola, French horn, and euphonium, although her favorite instrument to play had to be the drums. It was rumored that she only had to hear a song once in order to be able to play it, which was half-true. She could remember songs in her head just fine, but it often took her several hours of mixing up notes and key signatures in order to play the piece at all. The task was difficult for the girl since she was born blind, but once she finally got a piece down she found it truly rewarding. Playing music soothed her in a way nothing else could. Her current song, Rainbow Junction from _The Rumpet Movie_ , was one of her favorites.

It was almost ethereal, the way she moved around the room as she played. Eris always wanted to look nice and matching, yet remain her independence, so her mother had set her up with several different flowy dresses that were rather comfortable and matched her black slip-n shoes. The one she was currently wearing, unbeknownst to her, was white and the overall effect was rather wistful and magical as she all but danced across the living room.

Upon noticing where his youngest sister's attention was, Silver let out a deep sigh and waved a hand in front of the second grader's face.

"Helloooo, Syd the Clover kid," he addressed her, "Math homework. Yours. Currently doing it, remember?"

Sydelle frowned. "Ugh, Silver. Math is so _boring._ "

Silver clutched his chest in mock agony. "Boring, you say? Math? The great precursor to science? The subject of brain-teasers and puzzles the world over? _That_ sounds boring to you?"

The redheaded girl spent a moment pondering the question before nodding firmly with a devious smirk. "Yes."

Her brother's face fell into a blank stare. "Fine then," he told her as he rose from the table and began gathering his things, "I can see where I'm not wanted."

"Noooooo!" Sydelle Clover protested and pulled at the sleeve of his shirt. As much as she disliked schoolwork, she did enjoy the time she got to spend with Silver when he was helping her. It was one of the only things they ever did just the two of them, and regardless of how she felt about the subject at hand, she would bear with it if it made him happy.

"That's what I thought." He smiled down at her and turned to the doorway between the dining and living rooms. "Hey, E! Mind playing us some study music?"

Abruptly the sound of the viola in the other room stopped. "You don't like _The Rumpet Movie_ soundtrack?"

Silver rolled his eyes. "Why do you like that rainbow song so much anyway?" he retorted. Eris grinned.

"Oh come on, Archie. A blind girl can't enjoy a song about rainbows now?" she asked, her tone amused. Silver laughed.

"Fine, go ahead and play it for yet another half hour. Just don't be surprised if our dear sister feels the need to take a study break so her frogs can join you in singing their song," he warned cheekily. All the color drained from Eris's face.

"Y-you wouldn't," she stammered.

The eleven-year-old boy shrugged. "You and I both know Dellie Clo is an unstoppable force. I can't do much about the matter."

"B-but their so disgusting and, and _germy_!" Eris cried with a cringe.

"Like I said," Silver reminded her, "It's out of my hands."

"Fine," the blind girl grumbled as she raised her viola to play a new song, "But you _do_ realize that cruel and unusual punishment is against the Constitution, right?" She began playing some Trip In Boy song. Silver smirked.

"I'll keep that in mind," he remarked as he sat back down at the dining table and returned his attention back to Sydelle Clover. "So, Little Red, where were we at?"

"I think the police heard your threats and are coming to arrest you!" Eris interrupted from the living room without missing a beat of her song.

Not quite sure what she meant, Silver simply stared at her for a moment before registering the blue and red lights coming from the window out of the corner of his eye. He got up to peek out of said window and sure enough, an officer was getting out of his car.

"How do you even do that?"

"The police cars sound different sometimes," Eris explained, "I think that's when their light are rotating? That's what Dad said anyway. I'm not quite sure what that means."

A knock at the door interrupted them and Eris stopped playing. Intrigued by this development, Sydelle jumped out of her chair to see what the commotion was about.

"Mom, the cops are here again!" Silver called as he went to answer the door. Upon opening it, he eyed the tall man before him carefully. The officer was a familiar sight around the house, and the stack of hair atop his head made him tower over the Gifaldi boy even more. Silver frowned. "Mom'll be down in a moment."

The policeman smiled and stepped inside as Sydelle and Eris joined them in the foyer.

"Good evening, sir," the middle Gifaldi child greeted the man with a curtsy.

"Nice to see you too, Eris," he assured her, then froze as he realized his mistake. The look on his face threw Sydelle Clover into a fit of giggles. Eris herself, being used to such comments, paid no mind.

"Officer Johanssen! What a surprise!"

The small group's attention was brought up to the top of the staircase where Mrs. Gifaldi stood. Her braided bright-red hair was slightly frazzled and she had on a bleach-stained t-shirt with her skirt, completing what Sydelle referred to as "Mommy's homework wear."

The officer laughed at the remark. "I doubt you weren't expecting me, Lucky."

She shrugged. "True. Although to be fair you took your own sweet time getting here."

Gerald rolled his eyes. "Let's just say it was a busy day at the office. Although you and I both know that there's no reason for me to be here. You're good enough at hacking to not to get caught."

Lucky gasped. "Gerald Johanssen, are you telling me to _break_ the _law_."

"Mmm mmm mmm. You already broke the law, Lucky. What I'm wondering is why you keep breaking it _poorly_." It was clear that Gerald was more exasperated than anything. Lucky, however, didn't seem to notice.

"Aw, but I would miss our talks!" she told him earnestly, "And covering my tracks just takes so _long._ Why bother? Uncle Sam can take care of it."

Gerald sighed as he pulled out his cuffs. "You do realize that you're getting lazy in your tactics, right?"

Lucky laughed as she began to lead him to the door. "Please, this is only the stuff I'm allowed to tell you about."

"Come again?"

"Sorry, G.J. I can't say anything more without a lawyer present," she informed him.

"Man, how many times do I have to tell you? Don't call me G.J."

Lucky paused and gave him a salute. "My apologies, _Officer_ G.J."

"Now come on! I'm an officer of the law, does that mean _nothing_ to you?" Gerald whined.

"Of course it means something! Right kids?" Lucky shot her children a wink, causing Silver and Sydelle to join her in laughing. Eris frowned at her family's actions.

"Yes, Mother," she began, then addressed Gerald, "My apologies for any inconvenience, Officer Johanssen."

Gerald smiled and pointed to the dark-haired Gifaldi girl. "You see? Now Eris here gets it."

Lucky stifled her giggles behind a hand. "I'm sorry, Gerald. You're quite right. I figure now's about the time you should be hauling me off to the 'ol clink, huh?"

"You already called Sid?" Gerald asked with a raised eyebrow. Lucky smirked.

"I told him he should stop by on his way home from the garage when he left for work this morning."

Gerald gave her a dubious look and grumbled, "Yeah, a surprise my foot." Lucky beamed at his response.

"Always prepared, my good sir," she informed him, then turned to her kids, "Welp chillens, the usual house rules: Silver's in charge, don't touch Sydelle Clover's hat, Eris orders the pizza, keep all frogs and specimen within their predetermined rooms. No alien autopsy screenings, no taking in wild animals to open a pet store, and I hope I don't need to remind you of what happened in D.C. with the goldfish and the pipe organ. Do not, under ANY circumstances, recreate any movie scenes. 3-strike rule is in effect. If one of you has to call an ambulance or the fire department, that is your 3rd strike and next time you _will_ have a baby-sitter. Dad and I should be back in a couple of hours. Got it?"

Silver, Eris, and Sydelle Clover nodded in unison. Lucky smiled.

"Frabjous. Alrightie, then, Officer Geraldo, take me to your leader."

Gerald shook his head as he ushered the red-headed woman out the door. "Mmm mmm mmm. Apples do not fall far from their trees, do they?" With that he pulled the door shut, leaving the three kids completely adult-less.

Sydelle immediately turned to her siblings with a devious grin. "So, what should we do now?"

Eris didn't miss a beat. "How about your homework? Don't you still have a lot of it?"

"Aw, come on Eris," Sydelle pouted, "I've been working on something for a while and now is the _perfect_ time to do it!"

"Why wasn't it a perfect time when Mom was here?" Eris asked cautiously. Sydelle shrugged.

"Better to ask forgiveness than permission?" the youngest Gifaldi supplied hopefully. Silver laughed.

"Whatever it is, kid, I'm in," he informed her with a small noogie atop her hat, "We could use a bit of fun around here."

"Archie! We'll get in trouble!" Eris protested. Silver shook his head.

"Look, E, you and I both know that whatever it is Syd's planning, we'll probably do it anyway. Between her ideas and my execution, we're unstoppable. But with you? Then we're _uncatchable,_ " he insisted, "With you driving our getaway car, there's no _way_ Mom and Dad will find out."

Eris simply faced in what she assumed with her brother's direction. " _I'm_ the getaway _driver_? That was a poor analogy, Archie."

Silver rolled his eyes. "Come on, Eris. You _know_ you want to."

As uncomfortable as she was breaking the rules-and Sydelle's plans _always_ wound up breaking the rules in some capacity-Eris had to admit she was curious to hear what the seven-year-old had concocted. She frowned, knowing her resolve was crumbling.

"Alright, _fine._ Sydelle, what do you have in mind?"

* * *

LwTG-LwTG-LwTG-LwTG

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"We're fudged," Eris stated.

"Well I mean technically _we_ didn't call the fire department."

"Because you guys melted all the house phones!"

Eris listened in horror as the firemen moved around their home. The three Gifaldi children were outside, waiting until said firemen cleared the scene so that they could go back inside.

"Personally I foresaw a better end to a telephone-hot-potato-hide-and-seek crossover game," Sydelle remarked sadly, "Back to the drawing board I supposed."

"Your drawing board caught fire after you tried to resuscitate the melted phones with a toaster-fork mock defibrillator," Eris reminded her.

"Oh yeah."

"And YOU, Archie, Mr. 'Let-Me-Call-Half-The-School-To-Join-In'," Eris addressed her brother, "Where _were_ you when all this was going on?!"

"Well Bard and I were in cognito. So far the Potato Master hadn't located us and we couldn't risk giving away our position," Silver defended, "What's your excuse? You were there!"

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't assume from the sounds going on around me that there was a toaster in THE BATHTUB!" She waved a hand over her eyes for emphasis.

Silver shrugged. "I still say that if anyone failed here it was you."

"Me?! I'm the one who went over to the neighbors when someone tried to smother the fire with paper towels!" Eris defended herself. "If it wasn't for me the entire HOUSE would've gone up in smoke!"

"But _your_ job was to make sure that Mom and Dad never found out," Silver told her, "Fat chance of that happening now."

"Maybe if we help the firemen it'll go faster!" Sydelle suggested cheerfully.

Eris shook her head. "Please, Syd, just… no."

Sydelle frowned thoughtfully. Perhaps there was _something…_

"Whatever you're thinking, Little Red, unthink it," Silver warned, "The Goddess over here is on a short fuse."

"I am _not_ the Goddess of Discord," Eris denied vehemently, "And maybe my fuse would be longer if you and Sydelle stopped _setting it on fire._ "

Silver rolled his eyes and elbowed Sydelle Clover. "Hey, Syd, did you bring the marshmallows? We could probably roast a few over her head now, huh?"

"Don't even THINK about getting marshmallows in my hair Archibald Gifaldi!" Eris cried. Tears pricked her eyes, and she took a deep breath, "I'm not in the mood, okay? It's cold out here, I can feel every bug that buzzes past, there's probably countless bacteria in the soot that's still on my hands, my hand sanitizer is inside, and Mom and Dad are going to _kill_ us."

Silver's smile disappeared when he saw the state his sister was in. While he did enjoy poking fun at Eris's germ phobia, he also knew that he could go too far sometimes. It seemed odd to him that the only one out of the three of them that was named for chaos, and she was the one truly frightened of breaking the rules. He supposed that being in a world of darkness was probably the most chaos she needed.

"Hey, E?" he tried, his tone soft, "Look, I'm sorry. I really didn't mean for it to be like, well, _this_."

Eris shook her head and swiped a few tears away with the sleeve of her dress. "That's alright, I'll be okay. I'm just a tad bit… overwhelmed at the moment."

Silver smiled. She might be afraid of little germs and getting in trouble, but his sister was a trooper to the end.

"So," he began, "Are Mom and Dad close to home?"

Eris stopped for a minute, tilting her head to where her ear was closer to the street. "Their car sounds like it's a street over. I give it maybe a minute and a half?"

Silver's smile fell as he looked back to the firemen all milling about with no sign that they were even close to finished with their work.

He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "We're fudged."

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 **A/N: And that's all she wrote! For now. Maybe. I'll figure it out eventually.  
**

 **...Maybe.**

 **Review if you wish! I love your face for reading this.**

 **-NerdilyNi**


	2. Discord

**A/N: So this is a short little something. I've been talking with SuprSingr a bit, and per the norm it has inspired me to write. Like a lot. And because I'm a giant ball of emotional sap, it's angst. Eris-centered angst to be exact. Silver-Arch (thank you for that, Supr) also makes an appearance for some protective!Older brother floof. In other news, here you'll get a better feel for the middle and eldest Gifaldi siblings.**

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 **Disclaimer: I only partially own the Gifaldi siblings. It's a weird time-share thing. Heck, I don't even own the universe. Based on the SuprSingr fic: Life with the Shortmans (which is based on the characters of Hey Arnold!). In fact the Gifaldi patriarch is owned by whoever owns Hey Arnold! now. Things have gotten weird at this point... does this count as parody law yet?**

 **In any case, I am a poor college student and I own virtually nothing.**

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It took Silver all of five minutes of being home to tell that something was wrong. Call it what you will, whether it be sibling telepathy or brotherly intuition; the point is, he knew that something was up with Eris.

As a creature of structure (an irony if he'd ever known one, considering her namesake), Eris's afternoon schedule was always the same. Upon arriving home with Sydelle Clover, she would proceed to complete her homework with a light afternoon snack, work on her chores of the day (which _always_ included disinfecting her room), and then practice an instrument until Mom or Dad got home. Usually Silver got home around the time that she was just finishing off her snack. Today, however, was completely different.

The sound of drums was a common one in the household as the drums happened to be what Eris loved the most. Even when she was just a tiny tot she had loved playing around on their father's old bongo set. There was no place that Eris felt more at home than seated behind a bass drum and some cymbals, and honestly she was pretty amazing with them. Then again, Eris was pretty amazing with any instrument.

So to the unsuspecting observer, the sound of someone banging away on drums in the Gifaldi house would be considered pretty standard. Judging from the fact that it was at least a good hour before she _should_ have started practicing and the fact that the drums were Eris's go-to instrument of comfort, however, it was clear to Silver that something was _definitely_ wrong.

He made his way to the music room in a flash. Originally the space had been designed to be a second guest room, but their parents had decided to transform the space to provide a "classier" living situation. Silver wished that they could have made it into a laboratory to experiment in, but he also knew that Sydelle Clover would probably have tried to combine his most fragile and volatile specimens so that they "could all be friends," so it was probably for the best. At least this way they had a space for all of the instruments (which technically they were all allowed to use, but Eris was particularly fond of them). The walls were also heavily padded to prevent the sounds from being overheard a neighborhood over.

Knocking slightly was the only warning he gave before intruding on Eris's jam session. As he opened the door, Eris paused in her drumming and sighed.

"What is it Archie?" she asked. He shrugged.

"A little early for you to be practicing," he commented. Eris frowned.

"Well maybe I just felt like it," she stated defensively. There was a certain tiredness in her tone that Silver couldn't help but catch. "Or maybe I'm just embracing my place in life."

"What do you mean?" Silver pressed.

Eris scowled and hit the cymbals once. Silver winced.

Regaining her composure, Eris sighed. "Mom wants to throw me a birthday party," she told her brother. Silver gave her a confused look.

"So? Mom always wants to throw us birthday parties."

"Well maybe I don't want one!" Eris insisted, hitting the cymbals again.

Silver frowned deeply. Sure, Eris was a bit of a reserved person who preferred her instruments to hanging out with people, but she always enjoyed herself at his and Sydelle Clover's birthday parties. What was the issue?

"Why not?" he finally voiced his concern. His sister set down the drumsticks and turned to face his general direction.

"Do you have any idea what they think of me in my grade?" she asked him sincerely. Silver's eyes widened. Did his sister not want to throw a party because of something some kid told her? Was she being _bullied_? He scowled at the thought.

"What do they say?" he asked, his anger deeply embedded in the question. His fist was clenching and unclenching at his side in preparation of a potential battle. If someone was making his sister feel bad…

Eris's expression shifted to something of melancholy, a sad smile gracing her features. "You are in the presence of the Phantom of the Music Room."

" _What?_ " A general helping of annoyance was sprinkled on top of Silver's disbelief. There was no way he was going to let this slide. "Who do I have to go after for that one?"

The darkness lacing his voice caused Eris to frown.

"You are _not_ to get after anyone," she scolded her brother.

"Why shouldn't I?" he snapped back, "Look, E, I may not be the best guy around but if you think I'm going to just sit on the sidelines while someone is bullying my little sister when I could be doing some-"

"It's not bullying!" Eris interrupted hastily, then continued with a sigh, "It's not. The other kids don't mean anything malicious by it. They just… they don't really notice me as a person, I guess. I don't know. It's hard to tell what people are thinking sometimes."

Silver looked at his sister, trying to understand what she meant. The moments where he was forced to realize Eris's limitations were always difficult ones. So much of the time she was just his little sister, a kid like anyone else. She had her neuroses and her instruments and they got into sibling squabbles just like he did with Sydelle Clover. The three of them were so close-knit that Eris's limitations didn't matter. It was always in the background as just one of the things that made Eris, well, Eris. She didn't make it seem like she felt disabled by it.

The truth was, however, that there was a disconnect. While he and Sydelle Clover might be used to it the rest of the world certainly wasn't. He always thought Eris to be too big of an introvert to really make any friends, but for the first time he realized that there was more to her seclusion than that. She couldn't read body language like the other kids, talk about television shows like they did, or even discuss fashion with the other girls. Eris would never admit any of that either, partially because she didn't know that those were things she was missing out on.

"It's not right," he told her angrily, "Why don't you just tell them it bothers you?"

"And what, tell them to be my friend because it's the nice thing to do?" Eris shot back sarcastically, "Look, I don't know why it's so hard to talk with the other kids, it just is. I'm not even that bothered with the whole 'Phantom of the Music Room' thing. I _like_ the music room. I like the fact that my aid doesn't have to walk me through everything in there. I like being able to keep up with the other kids for the most part. And I like the music teacher, who appreciates my work regardless of whether I am seeing or not. In there, I'm not told that I'm doing well for a blind girl. I'm just doing well. So of course I spend a lot of time in there. There's even something nice about having that label, you know? Maybe I like the attention in some twisted way, I don't know."

"But what does this have to do with a party?" Silver asked. Eris let out an annoyed huff.

"Everyone likes an urban legend. No one is very interested in befriending one," she explained, "Mom wants to invite my 'friends from class.' How can I tell her that I don't have any? She thinks I'm doing _well_ here, but hanging out with you and Sydelle can only go so far."

Silver watched his sister as frustration welled up within him. If there was one thing he hated more than anything, it was feeling like there was nothing he could do. Especially with something like this. Eris could be annoying at times, but overall his sister was great and any kid would be lucky to be her friend. Kids were idiots.

He frowned thoughtfully before pounding his fist into his hand with resolve.

"Y'know what? We _are_ going to throw you a great birthday party. You, me, Syd, Bard, and any other kid we deem cool enough to join us," he told her, "Who needs the dumb kids in your class anyway?"

Eris smiled softly and shook her head. "They're not dumb, Archie."

Silver waved the thought away. "Who _needs_ them, E? Seriously? Sydelle and I know you better than anyone, Bard thinks you're pretty cool for a girl, and I'm sure we can round up plenty of kids that have participated in one scheme or another that would love to party with you. You are Eris Gifaldi, _the_ Phantom of the Music Room. You said it yourself, E. You are a _legend._ "

A moment passed and suddenly Eris was laughing, long and hard. She clutched her stomach as she chuckled, mirth evident on her face.

"Thank you, Archie," she told him sincerely, "I really did need that."

He smiled. Even in the moments where he couldn't fix all her problems, at least he could make her smile.

"Hey, what else are brothers for?" he asked, "Through thick and thin, we're Gifaldi siblings to the end! How else will we survive this weirdo family?" He smiled warmly. "Now come on, we've got to do our homework. I'm sure this little pity party of yours really threw a wrench into your perfect schedule."

Eris frowned. "That could have been a nice moment, you know."

"C'mon, you know me better than that. I'm not that nice of a guy," Silver reminded her with a mischievous smirk, "Come to think of it, I'm sure all of the bacteria that will multiply in your room with the added hour they have to live could provide me with some pretty great specimens."

"They will _not!_ " Eris cried as she picked up a drumstick and hurled it at him. He easily dodged the projectile, laughing as he did so.

"There's only one way to find out!" he told her as he made a swift exit to deter any other weapons she might throw at him.

"Boys," she mumbled under her breath. As she moved to pick up the thrown drumstick, however, she smiled. Her brother may be a jerk and a half more often than not, but he did make it clear that he cared about her in his weird "Archie" way. When she really thought about it, it would be easier for both him and Sydelle Clover to simply bypass her in their schemes, especially with how much she always protested. Still, Archie would always convince her to lower her guard. The parts where they got in trouble weren't fun to be certain, but even if she never had anyone to talk to in school she knew she would always have her siblings. Through thick and thin, Gifaldi siblings to the end. The thought was comforting. Eris knew she always had people in her corner, and that was all that mattered.

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 **A/N: The ending is a little wonky, I realize. Let's be real, I didn't spend a lot of time on this, but wanted to post it nonetheless. Still, I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think!**

 **-NerdilyNi**


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